Elon Musk faces legal setback: California judge blocks mass government layoffs
A federal judge in San Francisco, William Alsup, has blocked the mass layoffs of probationary federal employees ordered by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, ruling that the dismissals were likely illegal.
A federal judge in San Francisco, William Alsup, ruled on Thursday that the mass layoffs of probationary federal employees ordered by Donald Trump and Elon Musk were likely illegal. The judge temporarily blocked the measure, pending a final decision, issuing an order against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and its acting director, Charles Ezell.
According to Judge Alsup, the OPM lacked the authority to mandate the dismissal of probationary federal employees. He emphasized that terminating workers without cause is unjust and asserted that federal agencies cannot be managed through deceit. “The Office of Personnel Management has no legal authority—under any statute in the history of the universe—to hire and fire employees of another agency,” Alsup declared, according to the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of the organizations that filed the lawsuit.
Government's defense and Lawsuit impact
Government attorneys acknowledged that the OPM does not have the authority to hire or fire employees from other federal departments. However, they argued that the OPM merely requested agencies to review and determine whether probationary employees were fit to continue working. “I believe the plaintiffs are confusing an OPM request with an OPM order,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelsey Helland in court, as reported by the Associated Press.
Despite the government's stance, the lawsuit—filed on February 19 by five unions and five nonprofit organizations— is part of a broader legal battle against the federal workforce reductions initiated by Trump and Musk. Thousands of probationary employees have already been dismissed, and the next targets are career civil servants with stronger job protections.
The judge instructed OPM to notify federal agencies of the ruling immediately, including the Department of Defense, which was preparing to terminate thousands of probationary employees by Friday. Additionally, Judge Alsup demanded the government disclose by Tuesday the participants of a February 13 call, during which the OPM allegedly directed agencies to fire probationary employees. He indicated that a detailed written order would follow soon.
Elon Musk fired thousands of federal workers by Trump's approval. Photo: LR composition/AFP.
How many people have been fired by Musk and Trump?
There are an estimated 200,000 probationary employees across all federal agencies, 15,000 of whom work in California. Their roles range from fire prevention to veteran services, according to the lawsuit.
Plaintiffs argued that several agencies notified employees that the OPM had mandated their dismissals, using a template email citing performance issues as the reason.
Union representatives welcomed the ruling, though it does not guarantee that dismissed employees will be reinstated or that future layoffs will be prevented.
Lee Saunders, president of AFSCME stated: “This decision is only a first step, but it provides relief to federal employees. We will continue fighting to protect workers from these baseless dismissals.”
Judge Alsup, appointed by President Bill Clinton, suggested that unions may lack standing to sue, but nonprofit organizations likely do. He argued that their members would be denied federal services, such as park access, mental health support for veterans, and small business loans, due to workforce reductions.